Tube ice generator

ABSTRACT

Ice generator in which water is frozen in tubes extending vertically within a surrounding casing defining a freezing chamber spaced above the bottom of which is a distributor plate having apertures surrounding the tubes and defining a separate chamber into which a warm gas is passed to heat the tubes to cause the ice rods to slide therefrom.

United States Patent 1 Nilsson et al.

[451 Sept. 18, 1973 TUBE ICE GENERATOR [75] Inventors: Nils Edvin FolkeNilsson; Jimmie Arne Eurcnius, both of Norrkoping,

Sweden [73] Assignee: STAL Refrigeration AB,

Norrkoping, Sweden 22 Filed: Sept. 7, 1971 211 App]. No.: 178,029

[52] US. Cl. 62/352, 62/348 [51] Int. Cl. F25c 5/10 [58] Field of Search62/72, 352, 348;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,721,452 12/1955 Brandin etal. 62/348 7/1906 Towne 165/159 12/1924 Parkinson .1 98/33 R PrimaryExaminerWilliam E. Wayner Assistant Examiner-William E. Tapolcai, Jr.Att0rney-Munson & Fiddler [57] ABSTRACT lce generator in which water isfrozen in tubes extending vertically within a surrounding casingdefining a freezing chamber spaced above the bottom of which is adistributor plate having apertures surrounding the tubes and defining aseparate chamber into which a warm gas is passed to heat the tubes tocause the ice rods to slide therefrom.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Patbnted Sept. 18, 1973 INVENTURS Nils EdvinFolkc iii 15 15:7, and Jimmie Arne Eurenlu lUi-JSON & FIDDLER,

Attorneys 1 ne eu GENERATOR BACKGROUND THE INVENTION The presentinvention relates to a tube ice generator for the productionof ice byfreezing water which flows downwardly along theinner walls ofsubstantially. vertical tubes which are attached between two tube platesand surrounded by a chamberinside a casing in which chamber a liquidrefrigerant is vaporized while absorb.- ing heat from the water flowingdown the tubes, after which the ice thus formed is loosened from thetube walls by supplying warm coolant in gaseous form:

For the purpose of increasing the capacity of the gen.- erator and forimproving the quality of the ice it is important to reduce the timerequired to loosen the ice rods to a minimum.

This time element is largely dependent on the even d t n of h g P e su egas in the cha b or spaces between the tubes and the casing andprovisions should be made to assure a concentrated supply of heat to thelower ends of the tubes. This is primarily due to the fact that thelower tube plate 3 must be heated to the melting point of the ice beforethe, part of the ice rod at the outlet of the tube will loosen.Concentration of heat at the lower ends of the tubes can be effectedBRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

The inveu en is llu rated in h eeeuipe ih drawings where F IG? 1 shew eee g ne a in e g tudiua! sestion and 1 FIG. 2 shows a part of the samedrawn to a slightly larger scale.

. 1 designates vertical tubes which are attached between two tube plates2, 3 and surrounded by a chamber 4 within a casing 5.-

Water is supplied at the upper ends of the tubes ,1 from a conduit 6.The water flowsthrough the interior of the tubes and freezes to ice dueto vaporization of the refrigerant in the chamber'd. The water whichdoes not freeze is collected in a container -7 and pumped by a pump 8through the tube 6 back to the inlet of tubes 9 and 10 designateconduits for the refrigerant medium to and from the chamber 4.

When the ice tube has formed to the desired thickness, the pump 8 isstopped. During the freezing cycle the valves 11, 12in the conduits 9,10 to the low pressure side are open and the valves l3, 14 in conduitsl5, 16, which connect the tube ice generator to the high pressure sideof the coolant compressor, are closed.

When the pump 8 has been stopped the valve 12 is closed and the valve 14opened. Liquid refrigerant from the chamber 4 is thus pressed throughthe valve 11 to a liquid separator, not shown. When all the liquid hasbeen'evaporated or purged from the eharnber 4, valves 1 l and 14 areclosed, valve l3opened and an ice knife 11 carried by the shaft 20brought to rotate by the me 21- i Secured to the end of the shaft belowthe knife 17 is a centrifugal basket 22 for receiving the cut icepiecesand from which they may be ejected through the outlet chute 23.

According to the invention, a distributor plate 18 is provided which hasholes for aecommodating the tubes and which is attached to the casing 5and arranged above the lower tube plate 3 which is arranged at thebottom ends of the tubes 1 anddefines a second or bottom chamber 4b.These holes have a diameter greater than the outer diameter of the tubes1 so that annular gaps 19 are provided around the tubes, the areasof thegaps around the centrally located tubes being greater than the area ofthe gaps around the outer tubes,

The gh pressu gas w ich s e in throu h the valve 13 enters a spacebetween the tube plate 3., and distributor platelS and then through thegaps 19 along the outside surfaces of the tubes 1. The ice rods are thusthawed loose and drop down to be cut and remo ed The high pressure dropsat the gaps produce an even distribution of the gas to each gap and inthis way a concentrated and uniform heat supply is obt ined,resu in in ai m heating 9 ach tub end, 1 .ie generators having many tubes the flowresistance .of the se betw n the tubes m y nfluen e t d t ution emu h eThis ca e e hpeu a ed y mak the gap ground t ent tubes la ge han the gaphreuhd t e u nding tube e him 1,- ube .i e ato er th Predu tieu of e yfree ng wa r. id e ra or ompr sing a y ic ve t eell ar ed easi havi beplates a the p and bottom and vertical tubes therebetween, means forpassing ate h ush said tubes; e n or Supp ying low iqui P essu e ri ernt t a ma h b et ee a d ea g an ai u s, uiu bw pr ssur frigerant being,vaporized while absorbing heat from the water flowing down through thetubes, means for supplying gaseous warm high pressure refrigerant tosaid chamber, a distributor plate located above the bottom plate of. themain, chamber, said distributor plate having holes for the tubes, saidholes having a diameter which is greater than the outer diameter of thetubes. so that annular gaps are formed around the tubes, saiddistributor plate forming a second chamber between the bottom plate andthe distributor plate, and means for supplying .warm high pressurerefrigerant to said second chamber, said warm highpressure refrigerantescaping into the main chamber through'said distributor plate.

2. Tube ice generator according to claim 1, the areas of t e gaps aroundthe central tubes being greater than the areas of the gaps around theouter tubes.

3. In a refrigeration system including'a low pressure side and a highpressure side, an ice generator comprismg e e si g; i

b. a plurality of open-ended tubes spaced vertieally e. passage meansfor circulating refrigerant from the low pressure side through saidfreezing chamber in a freezing cycle to freeze the water in said tubes;

f. passage means for passing gaseousvrefrigerant from g. a distributorplate extending across said casing at a spaced distance above the bottomplate defining a bottom chamber therebetween;

h. said distributor plate having apertures surrounding said tubes of alarger diamter than the tubes to provide gaps therebetween;

'. passage means for passing gaseous warm refrigerant in a heating cyclefrom the high pressuresideinto said bottom chamber and through saidapertures to cause the ice rods to slide from the tubes, and

j. valve means for connecting said passage means cyclically to therespective cycles.

1. Tube ice generator for the production of ice by freezing water, saidgenerator comprising a cylindrical, vertically arranged casing havingtube plates at the top and bottom and vertical tubes therebetween, meansfor passing water through said tubes, means for supplying low liquidpressure refrigerant to a main chamber between said casing and saidtubes, said low pressure refrigerant being vaporized while absorbingheat from the water flowing down through the tubes, means for supplyinggaseous warm high pressure refrigerant to said chamber, a distributorplate located above the bottom plate of the main chamber, saiddistributor plate having holes for the tubes, said holes having adiameter which is greater than the outer diameter of the tubes so thatannular gaps are formed around the tubes, said distributor plate forminga second chamber between the bottom plate and the distributor plate, andmeans for supplying warm high pressure refrigerant to said secondchamber, said warm high pressure refrigerant escaping into the mainchamber through said distributor plate.
 2. Tube ice generator accordingto claim 1, the areas of the gaps around the central tubes being greaterthan the areas of the gaps around the outer tubes.
 3. In a refrigerationsystem including a low pressure side and a high pressure side, an icegenerator comprising: a. a casing; b. a plurality of open-ended tubesspaced vertically within and surrounded by said casing; c. a plate atthe top and at the bottom of said casing supporting said tubes thereinand defining a freezing chamber therebetween; d. means for passing waterthrough said tubes; e. passage means for circulating refrigerant fromthe low pressure side through said freezing chamber in a freezing cycleto freeze the water in said tubes; f. passage means for passing gaseousrefrigerant from the high pressure side through said refrigerationchamber to remove said liquid refrigerant from said chamber uponcompletion of the freezing cycle; g. a distributor plate extendingacross said casing at a spaced distance above the bottom plate defininga bottom chamber therebetween; h. said distributor plate havingapertures surrounding said tubes of a larger diamter than the tubes toprovide gaps therebetween; i. passage means for passing gaseous warmrefrigerant in a heating cycle from the high pressure side into saidbottom cHamber and through said apertures to cause the ice rods to slidefrom the tubes, and j. valve means for connecting said passage meanscyclically to the respective cycles.